7 on 7 first chance for P-W players, new coach interact
Tuesday's four team 7 on 7 event held at PalestineWheatley gave acting Patriot coach Paxton Crawford his first opportunity to look at his players and evaluate the talent levels.
P-W worked against Clarendon, McCrory and Cross County during the 7 on 7 scrimmages. Two more will be held on Tuesday, July 20 and Tuesday, July 27.
"For me it was a chance to determine who can do what and where to go from there as well as starting to look for those areas where I can plug players in," Crawford said.
As for the Patriots performance Tuesday, Crawford said he felt like his Patriot team was about on par. "We have a bunch of kids, who I think will play hard this coming season. If I can get them to do that I think maybe we will be able to compete," Crawford added. "If we can do that we will always have the chance to win a game."
Tuesday's 7 on 7 was the first chance for the returning P-W players to work out under Crawford and it was Crawford's first time to see any of his players on the field and added "it's a feeling out process that goes both ways."
"I'm seeing what cards I have and I'm sure the kids are seeing how I'm going to do things. Tuesday was just a big first step," Crawford said. "I'm glad we did it and we have two more events scheduled and both will be good for us as we iron things out gradually as we go. That's the game plan."
"I thought Clarendon was a little better athletically," Crawford said. "I thought they had a little step up on us. Cross County had a good looking safety who might have been the best individual athlete on the field. Quincey McAdoo was there but did not play."
For the Patriots, Crawford worked two quarterbacks during the 7 on 7 scrimmages, Trent Needham and Jacob Weddington.
Palestine-Wheatley also has a planned junior high team football camp scheduled for Saturday, July 27.
Official summer drills are scheduled to begin on Aug. 4.
Crawford said that he intends to keep everything on the schedule now "as planned" and not cut anything.
"We are in the process of trying to add Forrest City to our schedule for a benefit scrimmage game," Crawford added. "It's in the talking stage but at this point we have not heard back from anyone at Forrest City. We would welcome that opportunity. From my understanding, it's been quite a while since the two schools have played each other in any of the prep sports. Maybe, since Forrest City has a new coach in Teli White, we might be able to make it happen."
Forrest City participated in the Big Man and 7-on-7 football camps held at the University of Memphis on June 24.
The camps brought in several schools, including teams from Arkansas, Mississippi, and Tennessee. Mustangs will be led this season by new head coach Coach Teli White in his first year with Forrest City.
Before taking the Forrest City coaching job, White won backto-back state championships at other Memphis programs and takes over the Mustang football reigns from Rich Trail who resigned last November.
••••• Registration for the Palestine Ball Program's pee-wee football, flag football, soccer and cheer leagues is now underway and will continue through July 30.
The cheer program is for youths first through sixth grade; the flag football league for youths first and second grade; the football league for youths grades third through sixth grade and the soccer program for youths ages three to 16.
Registration fees are $35 each for cheer, flag football and soccer. Individual fees for the football league is $65 and youths must present a birth certificate before being allowed to practice.
For more information, contact Laurie Hoots at 870519-9178.